For Founders Law

Tech, AI and SaaS

Employment agreement

For your first and next employees. Bringing on people, and giving them equity.

What it is

An employment agreement sets the terms between your company and an employee: the role, pay, termination, confidentiality and ownership of the IP they create. We prepare a template you can use for your first hire and the ones after.

Without a written agreement that limits termination entitlements, an employee may be owed reasonable notice under the common law, which is often more than the Employment Standards Act minimums. Signing the confidentiality and IP terms at the start keeps what employees build clearly with the company.

You likely need this if

  • You’re hiring your first employee
  • Someone already works for you without a signed agreement
  • A contractor is becoming an employee
  • You’re offering equity or hiring an executive

What the starting price includes

  • Employment agreement template
  • Confidentiality and IP assignment terms

What can change the price

  • Executive or equity terms
  • Employees outside Ontario

We tell you before doing anything outside the agreed scope, and agree the fee first.

Read first Should I hire an employee or a contractor? It depends on how the work actually happens, not what the contract calls it. The CRA and Ontario's Employment Standards Act both look at factors like control, who supplies the tools, the ability to subcontract and the chance of profit or loss. If you get it wrong, the company can owe both shares of unpaid CPP and EI plus penalties, face ESA claims, and end up unsure who owns the code. Read the guide

Terms you’ll hear

IP assignmentIndependent contractorMoral rightsStock option plan

Often needed with it

Questions founders ask

Should I hire an employee or a contractor?

The label doesn’t decide it. Regulators and courts look at the actual relationship, including who controls the work, who provides the tools and who carries the financial risk.

Can we use a template from online?

Ontario courts read termination clauses closely, and a clause that doesn’t meet the Employment Standards Act minimums can be unenforceable. A template written for another province or country may not fit.

Does the company own what an employee builds?

Under the Copyright Act, an employer is generally the first owner of work an employee makes in the course of their employment. The agreement confirms that, covers other IP and includes a moral rights waiver.

General information, not legal advice.

How it works

  1. A free 15-minute call. What you’re building and what you need.
  2. A written scope and fixed fee. Before any work starts.
  3. A short, tailored intake. A few focused questions for your matter, so we start with what we need.
  4. Drafting or review. Most work is back within three business days.
Send us a note All fees